This forms the heart of any industry, as it is the key to growth and sustenance. Mainly M. Pharms & PhDs are in great demand in the various areas of Pharmaceutical R&D. Areas where professionals are required are

• New Drug Discovery Research (NDDR): Discovering a new drug has assumed prime importance in the post-GATT era where a pharmaceutical company has to ensure that it is selling original research products.
• Process Development (P&D): One of the important areas in bulk drugs industry is developing viable processes for the manufacture of drugs and intermediates for their commercial production.
• Formulation & Development (F&D): The success of any pharma company lies in the quality of its products, i.e., its formulations & dosage forms and constant research is required to develop new products that are more patient compliant. Formulation development ensures this.
• Clinical Trials, Bioequivalence studies, Toxicological Studies: These are some of the areas of clinical research which are in high demand as they are involved in the systematic evaluation of potential drug substances prior to getting them approved by the authorities.

A pharmacy professional can work as a production person, involved in the production of bulk drug and intermediates or formulations and dosage forms. Industries in the cosmetics, soaps, toiletries segment also hire pharmacy professionals. Other segments where opportunities exist are the field of dental products. Blood and plasma products is another area hitherto untapped in India, but has immense potential worldwide and is coming up fast in the country. Production of biological & biotechnological products, surgical dressings, medical devices & equipment, ayurvedic/ homoeopathic / unani medicines also involve the presence of pharmacy professionals in its production.

Any drug or dosage form for human use has to be of appropriate quality and purity, free from any impurities and should comply with pharmacoepoeial norms. The permissible limits of impurities, which either occurs through the manufacturing process, equipment, raw materials, handling or storage, are very stringent. Therefore, Quality control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) are the most integral areas of the drug and pharmaceutical industry. Highly specialized and trained staff is required to handle sensitive analytical procedures & sophisticated equipment. M.Pharm & Ph.D.s in Pharm Analysis /Q.A. are highly preferred for this job.

Any business is incomplete without the marketing & sales aspect, as the universal fact is that any thing produced has to be sold. The Pharma Sales & Marketing is a highly technical field & offers excellent opportunities for the pharmacy graduates. Additional qualification like MBA adds to their arsenal. The students can start with a sales career as a medical business executive or a professional representative and progress as area, regional, zonal and then country heads. They can also make cross functional moves by shifting to product management and market research areas which are highly paid functions and involve development of product packaging design, promotion and training aspects. The pharmacy graduates are absorbed as product executive or managers and can progress through group product manager and brand manager positions and rise to national level manager status.

Another opening for a Pharmacy professional is as a "Registered Pharmacist" in the hospitals or drug stores. This is a very sought after professional especially in countries like the U.S.A., Canada, Middle East and European countries. The trend is already set in many hospitals in the country. This is a key position and the Pharmacist plays an important role from preparing prescription to the patient's medial history after the Medical doctor has diagnosed the disease. These jobs are equivalent to doctor's regarding salary package in different countries and are categorized as hospital, clinical, nutritional, geriatric, onological and other divisions.

This concept, which is already very old in developed Western countries, is rapidly catching up the Healthcare service in our country. Through the services of community pharmacy a Pharmacist becomes a vital link between the patients and the products i.e., drugs. The pharmacist also serves a vital link between the patients and other healthcare professionals, especially the medical experts.

Excellent opportunities for the professionals are available in teaching profession also. As per the AICTE norms the minimum entry-level qualification as lecturer is M.Pharm. This is a profession associated with job d to be satisfaction and social status as teaching is considered to be noble profession. Besides teaching Academic related opportunities involve positions on Research Posts and Training programs. Documentation, Library Information Services & Pharma Journalism. The Regulatory Affairs as well as, Patenting Processes and Issues involve a lot of documentation work to be done and submitted to the concerned Regulatory Authorities, in a highly specialized and technical manner. Pharmacy professionals are again fitting in the bill. Most of the major Indian Pharma companies have established separate Documentation Departments with a highly technical & skilled staff for this purpose. Similarly, the R & D & Q.C. Departments of the Pharma Companies need a wealth of Technical information, which needs to be updated regularly, in order to match the pace of global competition. Therefore, Library Information services is another field in much demand as far as the Pharma industry is concerned. Furthermore, with the advent & boom of the Information Technology, Bio-Informatics and Electronic Data Retrieval Systems, this field is already scaling new heights.

Golden opportunities galore for qualified Pharmacy professionals in various countries including the U.S.A., Canada, European Countries like U.K., France, Germany, African Countries like S. Africa, Nigeria, Yemen, Gulf Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South East Asian Countries like Singapore, Korea, Japan, etc. and the Australian Continent including New Zealand. There are plenty of higher education and research opportunities in the developed western countries along with excellent job openings. The pharmaceutical career is one of the highest rewarding careers in these countries.